Direct tax collections exceed estimates in FY24; jump 18 pc to INR 19.58 lakh crore

NEW DELHI — India’s net direct tax collections surged by a massive 17.7 per cent year-on-year to INR 19.58 crore in the fiscal year ended March 2024, surpassing even revised estimates by a wide margin, the tax department said on Sunday.

Net collections of income and corporate taxes, which make up for most of the direct taxes, in 2023-24 financial year exceeded the Budget estimates by INR 1.35 lakh crore (7.40 per cent) and the revised estimates by INR 13,000 crore.

While gross direct tax collections (provisional) for the FY 2023-24 rose 18.48 per cent to INR 23.37 lakh crore, net proceeds (after accounting for refunds) surged 17.7 per cent to INR 19.58 lakh crore, reflecting buoyancy in the economy and rise in income levels of individuals and corporates.

Refunds aggregating to INR 3.79 lakh crore have been issued in FY 2023-24, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

“The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections for the financial year (FY) 2023-24 show that net collections are at INR 19.58 lakh crore, compared to INR 16.64 lakh crore in the preceding financial year i.e. FY 2022-23,” it said, adding the Budget for 2023-24 fiscal had pegged the collections for the year at INR 18.23 lakh crore, which were revised to INR 19.45 lakh crore later.

“The provisional Direct Tax collections (net of the refunds) have exceeded the Budget Estimate by 7.40 per cent and Revised Estimates by 0.67 per cent,” it said.

The gross collection (provisional) of Direct Taxes (before adjusting for refunds) for the FY 2023-24 stood at INR 23.37 lakh crore, showing a growth of 18.48 per cent over the gross collection of INR 19.72 lakh crore in FY 2022-23.

The gross corporate tax collection (provisional) in FY 2023-24 was up 13.06 per cent to INR 11.32 lakh crore as compared to the gross corporate tax collection of INR 10 lakh crore of the preceding year.

The Net Corporate Tax collection (provisional) in FY 2023-24 at INR 9.11 lakh crore showed a growth of 10.26 per cent over the net corporate tax collection of INR 8.26 lakh crore of the preceding year.

The Gross Personal Income Tax collection including Securities Transaction Tax (provisional) in FY 2023-24 at INR 12.01 lakh crore was up 24.26 per cent over previous year’s collection of INR 9.67 lakh crore.

The Net Personal Income Tax collection including STT (provisional) in FY 2023-24 at INR 10.44 lakh crore showed a growth of 25.23 per cent over preceding fiscal year’s figure of INR 8.33 lakh crore.

Refunds of INR 3.79 lakh crore have been issued in the FY 2023-24 showing an increase of 22.74 per cent over the refunds of INR 3.09 lakh crore issued in FY 2022-23, the statement added.

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